Heading the cast is Welsh-born actor Geraint Wyn Davies, who won a Helen Hayes Best Actor Award for his performance in the title role of the Shakespeare Theatre Company's production of Cyrano. Directed by artistic director Michael Kahn, Richard III also features Pamela Payton-Wright as the Duchess of York with Ralph Cosham, Margor Dionne, Edward Gero, Tana Hicken, Floyd King, Claire Lautier and Andrew Long.

"Treachery, manipulation, murder — are at the heart of Richard III," according to press notes. "Shakespeare’s tragedy about the power-hungry Richard, Duke of Gloucester [who] will stop at nothing in his quest to secure the throne. The House of York’s 'bad seed' seduces and slaughters his enemies, his kinsmen and even his own wife in a legendary reign of terror and villainy." The production will play the Lansburgh through March 18.

In a statement director Kahn said, "Richard III is a play about the intertwining of politics and family politics, for in Shakespeare’s day there was no difference between the two. In the text, we see the joy Shakespeare took in writing the mean and witty banter of his characters — the repartee is on par with that of Beatrice and Benedick. Through this banter, Shakespeare explores the ins and outs of political rhetoric, how people will lie, scheme and connive for their ambitions. And truly, few of the characters have clean hands, free of someone else’s blood. Though we despise Richard, we should also be shocked at the other characters’ complicity."